Moroccan lower house adopts transition budget

The Moroccan house of representatives, lower chamber of parliament) adopted on Friday a transition appropriation bill to cover the remaining months of year 2000 (July-December).

Some 148 mps voted for the bill while 50 were against at a session attended by 198 mps over a total of 325.

The six-month bill will pave the way for the return to the normal fiscal year, January-December. Under a 1996 constitutional amendment, Morocco's fiscal year was changed from January-December to June-July to allow bill drafters take into account the results of the cereal harvest.

Morocco's minister in charge of relations with the Parliament, Mohamed Bouzoubaa, had said earlier that the transition bill will generate 17,500 new jobs.

The bill will provide for new fiscal moves to boost the economy, which currently faces a second consecutive dry year.

It will exempt hotels from income taxes for 5 years, suppress tax on real-estate profit and cut trade tax.

The bill will also target a 44.44% increase in public investments, Bouzoubaa said, adding that the July-December bill will tackle drought effects as a top priority.

Morocco decided recently to import 52 million quintals of cereals and earmarked a $ 650 million to back the rural world.